Agghh...overslept AGAIN. And I woke up tired, with Thanksgiving shopping on my mind. With one cup of coffee under my belt, which just didn't seem to be enough, the Mr. and I were off to the store. He had things to get, and I had things to get, so we parted ways in the store. As he walked away I reminded his disappearing backside to grab stuffing mix for Katie! Katie being at work, we were doing some of her shopping for her. I got a few things, some cheeses, chips, and dips, and then met up with the Mr. again. I noticed he didn't have any stuffing mix. Where's the stuffing I asked him. They are out said he. I saw some Stove Top...He interrupted me with no stove top. It has to be Pepperidge Farm. That's what she requested. Shelf is empty. They are out, He repeated. Maybe we can find some somewhere else. So we got to the checkout line, and our few little items had blossomed into (gulp) two.hundred.dollars. The Mr. paid and we started to walk out, but on the way to the door I saw a cart by the office with a few things in it. One of the things was a Pepperidge Farm Stuffing mix bag. My eyes widened. The last one in the store, apparently. I asked the clerk if the cart belonged to anyone or if I could have the stuffing mix. She told me I could have it so, I shouted ahead to the Mr. STUFFING MIX!! He waved me to the checkout as he left to put the other 200 dollars worth of groceries in the car. So I got into a very long line, but soon a new checker showed up and I was the first one she took. A line of people quickly queued up behind me. The clerk scanned the bag. Three ninety nine! she said. The price came up $2.99. She didn't waste a second. Two ninety nine! She sang. The man behind me chimed in. One ninety nine! He shouted. The lady behind him jumped in. TEN ninety nine! Her voice rang out. I laughed. I guess this turned into an auction for the last bag of stuffing mix in the store.
Sitting in the car I sent a picture to Katie and told her about the "auction". We both laughed and the Mr. and I headed to their house to get the girls. He was kind enough to let me stay in the car because my knees were already on fire and we hadn't even started cooking yet. He rang the doorbell and waited but it was a long time before anybody came to the door. I watched him hanging out, looking at his phone, with a bag swinging from his other hand, waiting for the girls to come out.
Then the girls were out, and they were so excited to see us. They piled in and we headed to our house to start the pre Thanksgiving cooking. They helped us with the groceries and I began trying to find a place to put everything. The fridge was already full, and some things were going to have to go, so I started taking everything out, throwing leftovers away and refilling with the stuff we had just bought. Soon I had it all away, and I got a paper bag out to fill with the stuff to go to Katie's house. I had it all, except I must have left the stuffing mix in the car, cause it wasn't with the rest of the groceries.
No hurry, though. She wasn't due for a couple of hours. Arya went upstairs to watch TV, but Claire wanted to help Grandma cook, so I gave her some paper mini cupcake holders and showed her how to put them in the mini cupcake pan. She was so excited to make "patterns" with all the pretty colors. We were making tiny cheesecake bites, so I made the crust mixture and then showed her how to use the cookie scoop to fill just the bottoms of the cupcake papers. She was really into this, sitting on the pink barstool, concentrating on getting it just right. Then I measured the milk and the filling powder and let her use the mixer. I showed her how to carefully fill up the rest of the mini cupcakes and we put it in the fridge to set.
By this time Katie was off work and leaving Walmart, where she had been doing some shopping of her own. I decided to go out to the car to get the stuffing mix.
I opened the passenger door and stuck my head in, expecting to see the bag of mix, but no dice. It wasn't there. I looked under the seat. Nada. I looked through the whole car. Not there. I went back in the house and started diligently searching but it could not be found. I knew I had come home from the store with it, because I had taken that picture. It had to be here somewhere. I called her. I've lost the stuffing. No, she said, I need that stuffing. There is no more! I'm telling you, I have lost it, I said. It's nowhere! I decided to start over and went back to the car. Searched it again. Retraced my steps. Looked under the table. In the living room. In the laundry room. Went upstairs. Searched my bedroom. I got the Mr. involved. He left his desk and began looking all over the house, irritatingly looking in all the places I had already looked, with me right behind him, saying I already LOOKED there, I'm telling you it's gone! It can't be gone, I saw you with it! You took that picture! I know it has to be here somewhere. He couldn't find it either, and after awhile he gave up and went back to his desk. We will just have to door dash her some Stove Top he said.
And now she had arrived. I still hadn't found it, but I knew it had to be here. I went out to the car. I'm telling you, it has just vanished! I said. Did you throw it away? She asked? Maybe, Do you really want me to go through the trash? Yes, she said. I really need that stuffing! So I went back inside, did a very quick last ditch serious effort to see if it had just magically reappeared before I went through the garbage. But it hadn't. So I very gingerly began to move the garbage from the can into a fresh trash bag, so I could make sure I didn't miss anything, should it appear. I got to the bottom and came up empty. I went back outside empty handed and stood by her car. It's just gone. I can't understand it. With that, she jumped out of the car, animatedly. I'll look for it. Stay here with the girls. She went in and I resigned myself to a half hour of standing by while she looked. As I stood there I went over the events of the morning. It just didn't make sense. I knew I left the store with the stuffing. And then...in my mind I saw us picking up the girls...and The Mr. standing in front of their house with the grocery bag hanging from his hand...I stood up straight...and I KNEW where the stuffing was! I started laughing out loud as I headed as fast as I could go to the front door. KATIE I KNOW where the stuffing is! It's AT.YOUR.HOUSE! She came down the stairs faster than I have ever seen her descend any stairs. WHADDYA mean it's at MY HOUSE? I was still laughing, I could barely get it out. I told Dad to leave it in your kitchen when we picked up the girls. I totally forgot. She went past me out to the car, she was laughing too. She got in, and I leaned in. I said You know the most ridiculous part of this whole thing is that all THREE of us knew it was at your house, and yet we still tore this place up looking for it. Dad was the one who dropped it off after I told him to, and I just remembered I sent you a text telling you it was at your house. She said NO....and began scrolling through her phone...and there it was. She smiled very sheepishly. You mean to tell me that we spent half an hour tearing the house apart looking for something that was never even here? Oh, my gosh. I was still laughing.
I went inside to take a short rest and a dose of Tylenol before I began the bulk of the cooking and then got right down to it. I made the sweet potato casserole, got all the ingredients for the charcuterie together, got the turkey trussed and ready to go in the morning, made the black bean salad, and started the deviled eggs, and right in the middle I just quit. Put the boiled eggs back in the fridge cleaned up and said, nope I'm done. I deserve a rest. And there is plenty of time to do it tomorrow. I'm not killing myself tonight.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
That stuffing had better be out of this world!
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